


mint chocolate chip (third wheel)

by rosekings



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, also we've only seen like 20 seconds of robin but i'm already in love with her, it's BONDING TIME, s3 really coming through with steve & dustin content, they're the cutest ever honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-25 10:53:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18259811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosekings/pseuds/rosekings
Summary: “Hey.” He flicks Dustin’s forehead for emphasis and Dustin looks up at him tiredly. “What’s going on, dude?”He shrugs, and even that looks like a struggle. “Nothing.”Steve surveys him, wondering what on earth could have got this walking bundle of kinetic energy so down. “I’ll buy you another ice cream if you tell me what’s wrong.”Never one to turn down free ice cream, Dustin lets out a heavy sigh, folding his arms on top of his open book and dropping his chin on them. “I had a fight with Mike,” he admits.





	mint chocolate chip (third wheel)

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by the steve/robin/dustin scenes from the season 3 trailer!

“Who’s that kid you’re always hanging out with?”

Steve looks up from handing off a strawberry cone to the last in a group of middle school girls. Robin, his coworker, nods to one of the tables near the ice cream shop’s front corner and Steve follows her gaze to see Dustin sitting there slumped over a book, a pile of napkins providing evidence of his already-eaten ice cream.

“Oh, that’s Dustin. We’re, um, friends.” Steve wipes his hands off on a rag and leans against the counter. “You should know that by now. He’s in here all the time.”

“I _know_ he’s in here all the time,” Robin says, sliding the cash register drawer shut with a satisfying _click._ “I’ve given him like a million ice cream cones. But why do you hang out with him? Doesn’t he have friends his age?”

Steve throws her a look. “Of course he has friends. I know them too.”

Robin narrows her eyes. “Steve, he’s in here four times a week. It’s Friday night and he’s _reading._ That’s not how the typical teenager with friends spends their summer break. How do you even know him?”

_You wouldn’t believe me._ “I just… _do._ His best friend is my ex-girlfriend’s little brother and one of his other best friends is my ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend’s little brother and –“

Robin shakes her head, holding her hands up in surrender. “Whoa, okay, stop talking. You can just say you’re their babysitter, I don’t really care.”

“I’m not their babysitter!” Steve says exasperatedly. “They’re almost freshmen. I just know them, and sometimes I give them rides.” He hesitates. “We’ve been through some weird shit together, and…it stuck. Dustin’s actually a really cool kid, and his friends love him. You just gotta get to know him.” 

Robin raises her eyebrows. “Well, right now he looks like a really cool, really _sad_ kid. And he keeps glancing over here at you. Maybe you should talk to him or something.”

Steve looks over at Dustin. He definitely doesn’t have the attitude of a teenager excited for summer activities with his best friends; he’s reading a textbook, for Christ’s sake. _Alone._ Not that it’s unusual for him to be reading, but his interest looks halfhearted. He and all his crazy nerd friends used to come here all the time back in the spring when the mall first opened and Steve started working here, but ever since school let out and he got home from camp, he’s mostly been alone. _What happened?_

“Yeah, I guess I will.” He makes sure there’s nobody in line for more ice cream and then drops his (absurdly stupid) hat on the counter. “You good to start closing up?” he asks Robin.

“I think I can handle it,” she says dryly. “If an apocalypse happens, I’ll let you know.”

Steve rolls his eyes – _it’s more likely than you’d think_ – and steps out from behind the counter, weaving his way through the empty tables until he comes to Dustin’s, set in the front corner overlooking the rest of the mall. His blue patch-covered backpack is slung over the back of the chair, and a plastic soda cup with condensation dripping down the sides sits next to a handful of mint chocolate chip-stained napkins.

“Hey, man,” Steve says, sliding into the empty chair on the other side of the table. Dustin looks up from his book, making no attempt to hide the glumness on his face. His eyes are flat and tired, his expression worn. 

“Hey,” he says dully. _Yikes._ Steve only gets this kind of reaction from him whenever they’re out of mint chocolate chip, and they definitely aren’t today.

“Whatcha doin’?” 

“Are you blind? I’m _reading._ ” He props his cheek up on his palm and goes back to staring at the book, but Steve can tell he isn’t absorbing a word of it. Maybe he never really even was. Steve leans forward and lifts the edge of the book cover with his finger to check out the title. _Algae and Lichens of Antarctica: An Extensive Look._ Geez. 

“Hey.” He flicks Dustin’s forehead for emphasis and Dustin looks up at him tiredly. “What’s going on, dude?”

He shrugs, and even that looks like a struggle. “Nothing.”

Steve surveys him, wondering what on earth could have got this walking bundle of kinetic energy so down. “I’ll buy you another ice cream if you tell me what’s wrong.”

Never one to turn down free ice cream, Dustin lets out a heavy sigh, folding his arms on top of his open book and dropping his chin on them. “I had a fight with Mike,” he admits.

Steve makes a quiet _ahh_ and leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. “Damn. What happened?” He knows how much Dustin hates conflicting with his friends; he has too big of a heart to handle that.

Dustin slumps even further over his book. “He thinks we’re all grown up now or something, like we’re not allowed to have fun anymore or do anything we used to or some stupid shit like that. He said we’re not kids anymore and it was dumb of me to think we’d just play games in his basement for the rest of our lives, but I already _knew_ that! I just wanted to make this summer as fun as possible because Will’s – he’s –“ Dustin swallows, averting Steve’s gaze, “you know. Moving. And so I thought we could do more of the fun stuff we used to, but Mike thinks it’s all immature and boring all of a sudden.” He looks back up at Steve indignantly. “We’re not even in high school yet!”

Steve makes a sympathetic face. “That’s harsh. I mean, you guys _have_ been through some serious shit. Like, way serious. Shit that no kid should ever go through, but I think that’s just another reason to stay as young as you can for as long as you can, y’know?” He considers, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. “You think it’s because of superkid?” He goes with his usual nickname for El and Dustin usually laughs at it, but all he can wrangle this time is a small smile when Dustin looks up, and it disappears as quickly as it came. A small victory, at least.

He shakes his head. “They’re not like that. Duh, he’s head over heels for her, obviously, but he wouldn’t say stuff like that just because he’s got a girlfriend. He’s not _that_ bigheaded.” Steve snorts, and Dustin goes on, his expression still miserable and gloomy. “It’s just a mood or something. He’s really, really upset that Will’s leaving. But it still sucks ass that he’s taking it out on us.”

“Makes sense. Do the others agree with him, on the whole growing up thing?”

A noncommittal shrug, which practically screams _yes._

Steve sighs, and at this point he thinks he should probably stop prying before Dustin feels any worse. He shifts in his seat, glancing over at the ice cream counter. Robin is still back there, going in and out of the supply closet as she cleans things up. He looks back to Dustin, ready to end this conversation and get him to do something fun. “So where are they at right now?”

“Will’s packing boxes, and Max and Lucas have been gone together all day,” Dustin says, and even though Steve can tell he’s trying to cover it up, he’s bitter as hell. “Mike and El are probably practicing their wedding vows…”

He trails off as familiar laughter reaches their ears. The aforementioned Max and Lucas come around the corner, hand-in-hand, and Steve can’t believe how bad their timing is. They actually couldn’t make it any worse if they had tried. They catch sight of him and Dustin at the ice cream shop table and walk over, both of them grinning wide.

“Hey guys!” Max says brightly, a purple shopping bag swinging in her free hand.

“What’s up?” Steve says to cover for Dustin, who’s currently staring at them with a blank expression.

“The mall’s closing so we’re going to the carnival,” Lucas informs them. “Will and Mike and El are all off doing other stuff, so it’s just us. You wanna come, Dustin?”

Dustin shakes his head. “No, thanks,” he says stiffly. “Maybe tomorrow night.”

“Suit yourself,” Max says, oblivious. “See you later!”

She turns around and Lucas lingers for just a second longer, his high spirits faltering at Dustin’s rejection, but then he’s pulled away by Max’s hand and they head off, their eager voices bouncing off the walls of the mall.

“God, that sucks,” Steve notes. “They didn’t even invite me.” Dustin doesn’t answer, and Steve watches his eyes follow the pair of them until they’re out of sight. 

_Oh._ So that’s what’s going on. 

“You still like her, huh?”

He fully expects Dustin to deny the charge, but when Dustin tears his gaze away from them, there’s sad defeat in his otherwise irritated eyes. “Maybe,” he concedes. “But it’s not just that.”

Steve raises his eyebrows in a _then what is?_ gesture. 

“I’m just tired of being their third wheel,” Dustin sighs, flipping the cover of his book shut. “I know they’re not _trying_ to leave me out but it feels that way ever since they started dating. And it’s the same with Mike and El. It fucking sucks. It’s like I’m losing them all. I’m even losing you!”

“ _What?_ No you’re not!”

Dustin makes an _oh, really?_ face. “Look at you, Steve! You’re all buddy-buddy with Robin now. I’ve watched you, you’re like best friends. You guys aren’t going to want to bother with a kid like me.”

“Okay, first off, you’re not _losing_ me. I’m going to hang out with you no matter who else I’m friends with, because you’re cool as hell and anyone who thinks otherwise can go pound sand. _Secondly,_ ” he continues pointedly, to let Dustin know he’s offended that he’d ever consider Steve being so shallow (except, wasn’t he, at one point in his life?), “Everyone’s always a little obsessed with their first girlfriend. They’re your best friends though, dude. You guys have been side-by-side through a shit ton of crap. It’ll get better, you know it will.” Dustin shrugs, and Steve decides that’s his cue to move on. He takes a deep breath, sitting up and slapping his palms on the table with finality. “Alright. This is depressing and it’s making you feel like shit so we’re done talking about it. Robin and I are closing up, so in a minute do you wanna go do…” 

He trails off as Dustin perks up all of a sudden and looks at him curiously, and though he immediately knows some weird-ass personal question is coming, he’ll answer it if it means getting Dustin out of his funk. The kid does this all the time, and a hundred percent of the questions he asks aren’t anywhere _near_ the ballpark of what they had previously been talking about. He’s just nosy. 

“What?”

“Do you still love Nancy?”

His heart stutters. “Seriously?”

A grin spreads across Dustin’s face. “Seriously! I told you about Max, so you have to tell me about Nancy.” 

Steve groans. Dustin has definitely come out of his pity party now, in the jarring blink-of-an-eye way that kids do, but not exactly the way Steve wanted. “She’s dating Jonathan, so what does it matter?”

“Come on. I just wanna know.”

Does he still love Nancy? There was a time, after they fought and she and Jonathan…well. He thought he’d never get over her; he loved her so much, so helplessly and endlessly, but he knew there was always going to be a distance between them, however small it was. Towards the end, or maybe it was all along, he could tell she needed someone else, but the thought of her not being his anymore _hurt._ But there was nothing he could do about it and time went by, and it was something about the smile on her face when she was around Jonathan that made letting go a little easier. It was how they snapped together in a way that she and Steve once did, and then didn’t, and it wasn’t long before he was faced with the painful reality that she was happier now, so much happier. The two of them were a thing of the past, and…that was that. 

Not that he doesn’t still miss her from time to time. Not that he doesn’t still feel an old ache of longing for the familiar whenever she smiles at him across the street. But things are different now, and he thinks they're different for the better.

He shakes his head. “Nah. That was ages ago, man. I’m over her.”

“But what about –“

“Nope, we’re done talking about this.” Steve gets to his feet and looks over to see all the shop’s lights off and Robin heading towards them, her hands full. “Pack up your shit, loser. We’re getting out of here.”

Dustin rolls his eyes but his smile stays, and Steve feels a warm sense of accomplishment. There’s an extremely gratifying feeling that comes from being trusted and befriended by this kid, especially when he’s so independent and headstrong. Dustin feels safe around him and he’s not entirely sure if he’ll ever get used to that.

“Alright, gremlins,” Robin says as she approaches them. “Everything’s all closed up and I’ve got a mint chocolate chip for Mister Curly over here –“ she hands Dustin a double-scoop waffle cone with a napkin wrapped around it, “- a rootbeer float for Captain Short-Shorts –“ Steve gratefully accepts the chilly plastic cup she gives him, “- and a strawberry cone for myself because I deserve it. Oh, here, Steve,” she adds, tossing him his horrendous Scoops Ahoy hat with an evil grin. “You left this.”

“Damn. I was hoping someone would steal it and then I’d never have to wear it again.”

“Hey, Dustin, what’s that?” Robin asks, nodding to the heavy book that Dustin’s shoving in his backpack while also trying to keep hold of his ice cream.

Dustin looks up at her excitedly, eager to talk about it. “It’s all about the algae and lichen and mosses in Antarctica, and right now I’m on the blue-green algae section. Did you know that there’s a whole section of south Antarctica where some penguins live and all the ice is completely covered in algae? So it’s like all green and weird-looking.”

“Seriously? That’s awesome. Bet it looks pretty cool up close.” She starts loosening her tie with one hand, occasionally licking her ice cream held in the other. “I’d love to go to Antarctica one day. You gonna be a marine biologist or something?”

Steve isn’t quite sure how many times Robin and Dustin have interacted outside of the standard _“Ahoy!” “Two scoops of mint chocolate chip, please,”_ speech, but right now Dustin is looking at her like she’s the first person ever to speak his language. Steve braces for an awkward Nancy-esque crush, the fleeting kind that all kids get on older teenagers, but as he watches them talk, there’s nothing there. It’s just friendship, and he withholds his sigh of relief. The kid really is growing up. 

“Are you guys done? I’m already graduated, so legally I should never have to hear another word of science ever again,” he says, sipping at his rootbeer float. 

“Yeah yeah yeah, hold this.” Dustin passes his ice cream to Steve. As he finishes shoving all his stuff into his backpack, Steve leans into Robin, who’s nonchalantly working on her ice cream.

“He likes you,” Steve whispers into her ear. She grins. 

“All I did was humor him,” she whispers back. “Kids like to talk.”

“Well, still.” He pauses, glancing at the cone in his hand. “How’d you know I bribed him with ice cream?”

Robin frowns at him. “I didn’t. I just thought he might want it, since he was feeling so bad. What kind of kid doesn’t get cheered up by ice cream?”

Steve stares at her, and she looks back at him questioningly, and…he’s not exactly sure what he’s feeling in that moment. 

Like Dustin said, she’s one of his two friends. They bonded pretty quickly over Scoops Ahoy’s shitty uniforms and subpar ice cream and since neither of them have any other friends, they hang out at the pool and do whatever else they feel like when they’re bored and off work. It’s almost funny when he thinks about it – the Steve from three years ago would’ve been appalled at current Steve’s friend choice (and count, for that matter). Robin is completely different from someone he would have chosen all that time ago, but now he can’t even imagine hanging out with someone from back then. She’s nothing like Nancy – she’s open and carefree and funny and a few months older than him and just _different._ It’s not that she’s taken Nancy’s place – nobody could. But she carved out a new spot for herself, and he likes it.

He’s never regarded her in a romantic way and as far as he knows, she’s never looked at him like that either. It’s so easy to be around her without that kind of tension between them.

Except right now, his stomach is doing a weird swooping thing, and it’s throwing him off because it hasn’t really happened before. 

“So what are we doing?” Dustin says brightly, interrupting Steve’s thought process. He blinks, realizing Robin looked away some time ago. He hands Dustin back his ice cream, shaking himself out of it. 

“Hm.” He looks around the empty mall. Most of the lights have been turned off, everyone gone home. “I've always kind of wanted to slide down that spot between the escalators.”

Dustin’s eyes light up, and Robin says, “Aw, hell yes. Can I come?”

“Can you handle being our third wheel?” Steve counters when he sees Dustin’s shoulders tense, knowing it’ll make him relax a little. 

Robin rolls her eyes. “Please. Being a third wheel is my favorite thing.”

Dustin’s hesitation about her joining them fades away just like that and he makes a face. “Seriously? Do you even know what that means?”

“Yep. That’s what I went as for Halloween in sophomore year.”

Steve chokes on his mouthful of rootbeer and vanilla ice cream, and Robin starts laughing.

“I’m serious!”

“ _Intentionally?_ ” Steve demands.

She frowns. “Well, no. The girls I hung out with were bitches.”

“Me and Dustin aren’t bitches,” he says haughtily.

“Jury’s still out on that,” she says, a smile creeping up on her face. “Come on, they’re locking the front doors soon.”

She turns away and Steve looks down at Dustin, nudging him in the side. “You good?”

Dustin grins, swinging his backpack over his shoulder and happily taking another lick of ice cream. “Yeah, I am.” He pauses, looking at Steve with an evil glint in his eyes. “Just so you know, Robin is way cooler than you.” 

“What – hey! Wait up, assholes!” 

Robin and Dustin’s laughter rings out in the empty mall as they dash towards the top of the escalators, and Steve runs to catch up to them. A warm satisfaction fills him up and he smiles to himself. Turns out they were all wrong about who the third wheel in their newfound trio is, but at this point, he’s too happy to care.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! my tumblr is dustinhendrsn if you ever wanna yell about st <3


End file.
